Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Hello,
My name is Marek Kozub and I,m a teacher at General Jasinski High School in Warsaw, Poland. Our country is the size of an average state in the USA and its population is less than 40 million. In the South we have mountains and in the North the Baltic (Celtic - white) Sea. After regaining our full independence and becoming a democracy in 1989 we joined European Union in 2005. Warsaw is roughly the size of San Diego.
I asked my students to pursue Elika Dagestan project and write on one of the following topics.

  1. Describe the world you come from - for example, your family, community, or school - and tell your audience how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.
  2. Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.
  3. Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.
  4. Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.
  5. Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.
  6. Tell your audience about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution, or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?

61 comments:

  1. My name is Karolina. I live in Halinów with my family. There are four of us; my parents, one brother and me. I'm low and enaugh slim. I have got blue eyes and long brown hair. I usually wear jeans and blouse. I love dance and music. I often play basketball with boys. I sometimes read books. I don't like clear at home.

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  2. Hi! My name is Eva. I am from Poland. I live In Warsaw in a big flat with my familly. My familly is so small. There are my brother, my parents and me. I go to two schools. The first one is the public high school. The second is the private music school In the center of warsaw. I love my school friends because they are very happy jokers. My World shapes my dreams. My big anspiration is my favourite band Nightwish. I love their music and when i end my schools i would like to be a singer like singer of Nightwish. The singer of Nightwish is Anette Olzon. Anette is a singel who has a nice sopran voice. She was the best In album Dark Passion Play. I love her voice and clothes. I always wear T-shirt with Nightwish and I listen Nightwish every day and every night.

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  4. My name's Paula and for 16 years I live with my fantastic family in Poland,precisly in Warsaw. My life is continous running. I can't concentrate about one contrete stuff. Actually,I go to school on The High School on a street Lubelska 233 in Warsaw. In my class I feel very well. I meta lot of very curious people,something like me. I Like a complany of people.A world has shoped me very strong. I very take over about children in a countries " third world".
    The most of person who had an influance on me,is a princessa Fiona,on movie "shrek". She's a fiction character on outside very smooth,secretly. But the other hand she's really determinated,strong and herous.Fiona is a person,who's a piece of me.

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  5. My name is Karolina K. I live in Ząbki with my family. There are three of us; my parents and I. I’m 16 years old. I’m tall, about 1,70. I’ve got green eyes and blond hair. I like dance and sport. My favourite dance is jive and hip hop. My favourite sport is basketball and ice skating. I like reading books but I don’t like reading comics. I usually meet with my friends at the weekend.

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  6. Hi! My name is Kamil.
    Character that has an influence on me? I remember a character from the comic called Donald the Duck. There was a Sknerus who was awful rich and he was saving every penny for himself.
    He had a family-his son Donald and nephews- Hyzio Dyzio and Zyzio.
    On every step Sknerus showed how he erned his big welth. Of course he didn't gave anyone from his family any money. He said that everybody should save money to have that big richness.
    In this comic were also black characters of course-they were called B.Brothers. They(4 people)were constantly thinking how to steal Sknerus's money, but they never had a successfull robbery-always police knew earlier and arreted they or the Diodak's invensions were smarter than B.Brothers.
    Oh I forgot to introduce Diodak for you. Sorry. Diodak was also in the Sknerus's family. He was an succesfull inventor-many of his inventions were insalled in Sknerus's treasury or sold for other inhabitiant of Kaczogród city.
    Come back to the subject- how this character-Sknerus influenced on me?
    It's a simply answer-thanks to him I learned to save money in good way- every money which I get from my family I save and later I can borrow for my mother father or grandparents when they are in difficult financial situation. Also when I'm on the school trip and there are a lot of shops with souvenirs i can refuse buying souvenirs and spend this money on better things.

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  7. Paula,
    I love Fiona too! She is so funny and I like how she will be proper and lady-like one minute and a tough guy beating up bad guys, the next! It's funny when she burps hahaha
    :) Emma

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  8. In response to Karolina, I love dance too! I have been dancing since I was a little girl.
    What is it like to live in Poland?
    I've always wanted to travel there.
    Is it like the united states? with big cities, and busy people and too much technology?

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  9. Eva,
    Your passion for the band Nightwish is definitely apparent and has inspired me to listen to their music! I think it is amazing that you are so driven to achieve your dream of music that you attend a music school as well as a public high school! That is fantastic :)

    Sierra

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  10. Karolina,
    It is so interesting how people can live on opposite sides of the earth, and have such similar interests. I guess some things are universal.

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  11. Eva,
    I think it's awesome you go to a music school, as well as a public school. I'm a musician as well, what is it like going to a school dedicated to music?

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  12. Agnes,
    It is so cool seeing how people live in other countries, and what effects them. My ancestors are originally from Poland, so I would love to travel there someday.

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  13. Agnes, how do you plan to accomplish your goal to help people from third world countries?

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  14. Eve,
    I'm so jealous you get to go to a music school! That must be so amazing. I play guitar, and I attempt to play drums, so music has always been a big part of my life. I've never had a good voice though, I really wish I could sing or take voice lessons or something.

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  15. Kamil,
    What are some things that you use your money to buy that you feel are definitely worth it?

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  16. Paula,
    Thats really cool how you can identify with a character with such a diverse background and various emotions. Thats great that your enjoying school. I was wondering what subjects your interested in?

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  17. Eva,
    You sound very driven and interesting. At your music school, do you play an instrument? If so why did you choose to play it? I look forward to your response.

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  18. Karolina,
    You sound like a really cool girl. That is cool that you like reading, I do too! How come you don't like comics? Do you ice skate for fun or competitively?

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  19. Eva,
    I think it's so cool that your so into music and go to a private music school. I'm jealous that you already know so much about what you aspire to be, you seem to be on the right track!

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  20. Eva, you really love Nightwish!!!! I to am completely obsessed with something, and you might know it: Twilight <3 I am going to go home tonight and listen to Nightwish!!!

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  22. Karolina,
    Your grammar is basically perfect! We're very similar, I usually wear jeans and I also play sports with boys, except I usually play soccer.

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  23. O my lordy Eva!

    I used to love nightwish to! Because my favorite band used to be The Rasmus and Nightiwsh and The Rasmus used to do duets together alot! In fact have you heard the new song that they do together? the lead singer of The Rasmus and the lead singer of Nightwish. Oh, also Karolina I also play sports with boys, except I usually row instead of playing soccer or playing basketball. I'm so excited to get to talk to all of you!

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  24. Agnes I have a question. What is the relationship with your "mister"? Is he your husband? I am also surprised to hear that the movie stars are the humanitarians. It's not like that in the U.S.A.

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  25. Eva,
    That it so cool you go to school and then music school. You must be very talented:)
    i also have great friends that love to joke, its fun to laugh!

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  26. Nightwish sounds like a cool band. What type of music do they play? I'll look them up. Thanks for the tip Eva.

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  27. Paula,
    My family is also very fantastic!
    :)

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  28. paula, i love fiona too, she is such a bad ass romantic!

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  29. Hey Kamil. It's pretty cool that you learned such a lesson from a comic book. I love Donald the Duck as well, and it's very interesting to hear the names of the characters in your comics as well.

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  30. Hi Eva. I think it is cool that you want to continue exploring the world of music. I also like that you like your friends because friend ship is important.

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  31. pAuLa,
    i liked your post because it was interesting to read and everyone can relate to the movie shrek, especially fiona, i thought that was very creative :D

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  32. Hi Eva
    i really like the fact that you like to sing because I also enjoy singing i love it actually haha

    Do you want to b famous in singing?

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  33. Hey Eva, I think it's cool that you already know what you to be later in life, a singer. You seem very intrested in this, good luck

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  34. Anges, a clarifying question, what is your mister? It's cool to see what influenced you and how you would like to help out other countries.

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  35. Paula,
    I love children too and Fiona.
    She's my favorite charcter in Shrek, so is the donkey, he make me laugh :)
    I like how you said she is a part of you.
    I can understand that,i'm kind of the same way too :)

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  36. Karolina.
    You seem like a very cool person to hang out with.
    i love to dance too, especially hip hop :)
    On weekends i hang out with my friends too, their the best!

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  37. AHA
    Kamil, i loved your story.
    I love Donald Duck but never saw that episode.
    I love how you learned to save your money because of him, that's so cool and smart :)
    i also try to spend my money wisely and try to save it when i can for important stuff.

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  38. Paula:
    You explained very well how you can relate to Fiona. Like other people who posted here, I LOVE SHREK! It's like...one of my most favorite movies. Have you seen Shrek 2 and 3? I have the soundtrack for the second one...I know, I'm cool.
    Yes, Fiona is really cool because she is headstrong but romantic, she can hang out with the boys and also dress nice...I think a lot of girls can relate to her. I love that scene where she pauses the fight and fixes her hair before kicking two guys over.
    Allison

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  39. Kamil: that is a great idea, to save money... I don't know if you have to pay for college over there, but in the US we are all very worried about how we are going to pay for it! I was wondering...what do you spend your money on? Music? Food? Clothes? Or have you not yet found that one big purchase you want to have.

    Speaking of food...I just ate dinner. What kinds of food do you eat in Poland??
    Allison

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  40. Hey Karolina K. I just wanted to say that it's really cool that you love dance I too love dance. I just do it for fun but i hope to start some type of classes very soon I'm just trying to pick a certain type out of the handful I like.Anyways I also love books and Not to big of a comic person myself I have probably only read one that i find interesting and I can not remember the name.

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  41. Eva! You think your family is small? It's just my mother and I in my apartment. I've never heard of Nightwish, what style of music do they play?

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  42. To Zach:
    Actually, we probably have too many humanitarian celebrities. Angelina, Oprah, Sean Penn, Clooney...the list goes on.

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  43. Hi Paula,
    I love the risks you're taking with more advanced English words. Also, Shrek was one of my favorite movies growing up. I like Mike Myers (the voice of Shrek).

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  44. Kamil,
    I love Donald Duck! I actually have old comic books of his adventures. Over here, his nephews are named Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and they get into all sorts of trouble.

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  45. Hello Karolina K.,
    Good description of yourself, I can almost picture you! What is Polish hip-hop like? Send me some band/artist names to check out, thanks!

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  48. My name is Paulina M. I'm 16 years old. I live in Warsaw. I like this town. There are three of us. My mother, father and I. My favourite sports are vollayball, basketball and swimming. I have beautyful, little dog. his name is Gustaw. I love my dog. I spend weekends with my friends. We are going to cinema, park etc. my friends are very funny, smilling and intresting.

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  50. I'm very surprised because I don't know that in the USA people listen to Nightwish. It's cool that you are interested by my post.

    Ok.. so I play the piano in music school. I chore the piano because I like this instrument. I don't know if you know that the most popular and the best of classical composers was a Pole - Frideric Chopin. He's my favourite composer. :)

    Elli you tell me that you play the quitar. I love boys who play the guitar. :D

    Squid Nasty you told me about Twilight. In polish twilight is "Zmierzch" It's so funny :D
    My favourite actor in Twilight is Cam Gigandet. He is very handsome :D :)

    Dylan Hill you asked me what style of music do they play. Nightwish is a metal music. :)
    When I listen Nightwish I think about you :D

    Beside Nightwish I love metal band - System of a Down. I'm very interesting... Do people in the USA like System of a down? In Poland many people listen to this band.

    My second passion is skateboarding. I love to skate. After school I go to the shopping center - "Blue city" In blue city there is a the best skatepark and the best skateshop in Warsaw. I meet in BC many friends who are fantastic :)

    From school subjects I like very much maths, geography and P.E. I love to play basketball, ice skating and snowboarding. I love snowboarding in the fresh snow of early winter  It’s my third passion 

    I forgot to tell you that I have a big, pretty, black cat. His variety is Pers. His name is Behemoth. It has very big golden eyes, a lot of black fur and long moustache. I think that I will upload his Picture and my Picture the next time. 

    <3. !

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  51. Hi! My name is Karol 16 years old boy living in the capital of Poland that is Warsaw with my parents and my 3 years older brother. I go to public high school as well as rest of my mates who wrote about themselves here.
    I listen to different types of music although mostly its rock, metal and reggae including for example already mentioned Nightwish or System of a Down but also many others like Hammerfall, Iron Maiden, Metalica etc. I can say that I’m addicted to music even if I don't play on any musical instrument.
    I love playing computer games especially rpg and at the moment I'm playing World of Warcraft its been a long time since I started playing it.
    I'm interested in philosophy, music, computer games, anime and some strange things like for example lucid dreaming it sounds pretty amazing but I don't have any experience in it yet.
    Character that had an influence on me? Well, there are a few and its hard to answer this question but to be honest I would choose J.R.R. Tolkien which I admire for writing Lord of the Rings saga and in fact starting a new writing style that is fantasy. Well, that had a high influence on me because I love fantasy books as well as other stuff connected to it like role playing games.

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  52. Hi! My name is Natalia. I`m sixteen and I live in Warsaw in Poland. We are four of us; my parents, my sweet dog called Zenit, and I. I go to Jasiński high school. I like theatre. I like very much meeting with my friends. I like jazz, latino and funky dance. One of my favourite things is latino dance. I love dancing latino. I go often to the mall. I like funny and curious things. I like travelling a lot. I usually watch The Simpsons. Homer is the best character for me. I`m going to tell you why. He`s so funny and stupid. He`s got a big yellow belly because he likes very much donuts. That`s all Folks.

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  53. Hi. my name is wojtek, I live in tłuszcz with my parents and my younger brother. I go to General Jasinski High School in Warsaw.

    I love animals that's the reason I have 3 dogs. The most important event in my life was period of time I was living in geneva in switzerland. I that's the reason I'm able to speak French very fluently as typical French man. That time makes me more open and communicative.

    The person who has the most signicificant influence on me is my mother (especially after meeting with my teschers;)

    My hobby is volleyball. That's the way I usually spend my free time. This kind of sport makes me less stress and more relax. When I play, I always want to do my best!

    I think that's everything about me..

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  54. Hi. My name is Kate and I have 16 years. I live in Warsaw with my family. I have two brothers: Krzysiek and Adam, who have over 20 years. My dad Robert is a photographer, and mother Eve did not work out.
    I go for Jasinski, which is on the street Grochowska 346/348. I am in first class. Class is great. Can talk to them about everything. I like meeting new people.
    I like to read a book. My favorite book is 'The Little Prince'. The main character learn the world to understand what is most important to him. Although tho long-wandering realized that what he loves most about him was. I aslo learn about new things I realized what is best for me. In addition to the books I am interested in playing volleyball.

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  55. Hi! My name is Gosia. I'm sixteen, I live in Warsaw, in Poland. There are four of us : my mother, father, my younger sister and I. I go to Jasinski High School. Here I met a lot new fantastic people! I'm interesting a photography. Rather, I don't like sport but I like listen to music (my favoruite band is MGMT), meet with my friends, read books and go to a party.

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  56. Hi. My name is Ania. I'm from Poland. I live in Warsaw. I very like painting,traveling and shopping. I like playing computer games. My favourite pet is dog. I have fishes and a canary. In summer I very like swimming and sunbathing. My favourite time is holidays.

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  57. My name is Czarek. I live in Marki with my family.I go for Jasinski,Grochowska street 346/348 .

    I adore komputer.I interested in the computer science, music, computer games, with sport.I am talkative and quickly is establishing acquaintances.

    Person which has the most signicificant the influence on me is my girl. she knows what good.

    I am afraid of an virus AH1N1.He is dangerous.

    My talent is a nice voice and an acquaintance of 3 tongues.

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  58. Hi,
    My name is Asia .I come from Poland. I am 16 years old. I was born on February 6-th 1993 in Warsaw.
    I live with my family. There are four of us my parents, one old brother and me. My mother does not work and my father as a businessman. My father ia a very active person .
    I go for Jasinski, Grochowska street 346/348 .
    My favourite sports are vollayball, basketball and swimming. The most like basketball ,because it at high school walks am to school sporting.
    I listen to different types of music although mostly its rock.
    The person who has the most significant influence on me is my father ,because I have in him support.
    I like to read a book. My favorite book is ''Dr. House''.Dr .House is crazy people for then him like.

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  59. Hi! My name is Ania and I am sixteen years old. I live in Warsaw with my family. There are my parents, my sister and me. I love meet my friends and strou with they without reason. I love my city, but in future I atend do the sights all world. I interested by fashion, music, philosophy movie and art.I listen to different types of music, but mostly is polish rap. I like listen songs about life and love. Character that has had influence on me is Peyton Sawyer from TV series OTH. She's little lost and loner, but she is very strong. I think she's resemble to me.

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  60. Hello! My name is Albert. I am from Poland. I live in Warsaw. I'm 16 and I go to the LXXI Jasinski High School. I have got 5 people in my familly. My hobbies? Tennis and football. I was training in Falenica and now I play only on P.E. Character, which had an significant influence on me? you might know him It's Adam Mickiewicz, author of our Polish epopei Mr. Tadeusz. I love Adam Mickiewicz books. I red a lot of his poems. My favourite is Mr. Tadeusz.

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  61. My name is Marta. I come from Poland, Warsaw for example. I was born here and I think that is my place in the world. But sometimes I wonder how my life would be different if I was born in another country. I live in district Wesoła in flat with parents and two brothers. I am interested in fashion. I often buy a magazines about it. In my opinion the best model is Twiggy. I love films. My favourite film is "Amelie" or "Breakfast of Tiffany's". I can't decide. I dream about happiness in the future. I know, that is so simple wish but that's everything all I want.

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